Harder to Breathe
by gruffalo84
Summary: When Cameron learns her brother, Jack, has lung cancer, she asks him to move in with her and be treated at PPTH. As Jack’s symptoms become more complex, so does Wilson & Cameron’s relationship: two puzzles House must solve. Why the interest? WC & HC
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Thanks for reading! This is my first House fanfic. Please R&R and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the House characters, just Jack.

Cameron woke promptly with her 6:00am alarm, yawning loudly and stretching her long limbs like a graceful cat. She could imagine the feeling of the winter air on her skin as she gazed at the snow flurries falling slowly outside her window and repressed the urge to curl herself up tighter underneath her heavy flannel comforter. Cameron loved the thick warmth of her bed while she slept and always kept the temperature of her bedroom above 70 degrees, a fact that always bugged her husband. He would toss all the blankets to her side of the bed in his sleep and Cameron was only too happy to sink comfortably into them. She often missed the warmth of his body next to her in bed.

Rejecting these comforting thoughts, she exerted all her will to pull herself out of bed and scurry across the cold hardwood floor into the bathroom so she could brush her teeth and grab a quick shower. She prepared a small breakfast, a bagel with cream cheese, and plopped herself down in a comfortable living chair instead of at the kitchen table. She wanted to read a bit more of the best-seller she had recently picked up, an intriguing story about a Baptist family of missionaries who travel to the Congo during its revolution. She began reading about one of the daughters in the family who had contracted malaria meanwhile thinking about what she could be doing in Africa now if she had accepted Dr. Charles' offer to go with him to fight TB. The more she read, the more she felt like there was so much she could do outside of Princeton, New Jersey. She wanted to make more of an impact. But she knew that, as exciting as Dr. Charles' offer was, she had made the right decision. As she had learned the hard way, having feelings for a co-worker always made things difficult and sometimes unbearable.

Cameron jumped as she realized she had let her mind wander for too long. It was 6:45 already and she had a 20-minute ride to the hospital. She mentally berated herself as she left her dirty dishes in the sink to worry about later and slipped into her coat. As she was about to pull on gloves, her phone rang. She preferred to ignore it, but checked the caller ID just in case. It was Jack. Her heart plummeted for a moment as she realized that for her brother to call her this early in the morning, there was probably something wrong.

"Hello?" she asked tentatively.

"Allison – hey, how are you?" Jack replied, sounding neither happy nor upset, but with surprising energy. Cameron knew he was not a morning person like herself.

"I'm fine. I was just heading out the door. What's up?"

"I don't want to worry you too much, but I have some bad news." Jack paused, seemingly having a hard time explaining what exactly the news was. "I had a check-up with Dr. Johnson yesterday… and, he told me… Allison, I have lung cancer."

Cameron did not know how to respond. She was completely shocked since her brother had always been the picture of good health. He had been a star athlete in college and always kept up his workout routine.

"I…uh. Wow. Jack, I'm really sorry to hear it. This is a bit of a shock."

"I know, it surprised me too. And I'm sorry to have to tell you like this. But, Allison, I need your help."

"Of course. Anything."

"I need to see another doctor. Dr. Johnson is a great family doctor and all but I need someone who knows about this sort of stuff. And I figured you would be the best person to ask."

Cameron quickly formed a plan in her head. She wanted to do everything she could for her brother, who had always protected and stood up for her. It was so strange to have their positions reversed. Since their parents had passed away, their father 6 years ago and their mother a year after him, Jack really had no elder family member to guide him. He had been divorced for two years and had no children. Cameron was the only one left.

"How about you come out to Princeton? There's an oncologist here that I trust a great deal. And Dr. Wilson really is one of the best doctors I know."

"I'd really appreciate that, but it's probably best if I saw someone near home."

"I mean that you should make Princeton your home. You can move in with me."

"Oh jeez, I don't know. I don't want to intrude like that."

"Jack, you're my brother. We're going to go through this together. What's left for you out there in Columbus? It's either you come here or I'm flying to Ohio."

"Allison," Jack sighed. She could tell this is what he wanted to hear and that he simply needed a little push to make the right decision. "You have no idea how grateful I am."

"Don't be silly. It gives us an excuse to get together. And you can just as easily work on your book from here. It's a perfect situation."

"You're right, it is. I'll need a few days to get all my things together and figure out what to do with my place. I'll call you tonight and we'll talk ok?"

"Sounds good to me," Cameron replied, unknowingly letting the sadness seep into her voice. Cancer. The content mood she woke up with had fallen flat.

"Now, sis, don't start getting all weepy or worried like you do. Everything will be fine. And we'll be together." She could hear him smiling. If anyone could make the best out of a bad situation, it was Jack.

"Ok, I promise I'll keep it together."

"That's my girl. I'll talk to you tonight then, ok?"

"Ok. Love you."

"Love you too."

Cameron hung up the phone, still in a bit of a daze. She couldn't worry about things now; there would be time for reflection later. She slipped on her gloves and stepped out into the chilly air.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: _Assume everything taking place coincides with current timeline (i.e. up through "Clueless"). Thanks for reading. No reviews yet. :( Please let me know how I'm doing!

_Disclaimer:_ Don't own.

**Chapter Two**

House woke up not to the rush of water from the shower, the irritating clicking of a toenail clipper, or to the piercing buzz of the hair dryer. This time, he woke to something much more enjoyable—the smell of bacon and eggs. Little did Wilson know how easy it was to get House out of bed using his olfactory vulnerabilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered with his usual methods. More like his only method: yelling.

House sat down to the plate of food Wilson had just placed on the table and began to help himself. This resulted in a groan of annoyance from Wilson behind him, but House knew that by now Wilson had gotten used to House's new hobby of stealing his food.

"You could have asked," Wilson suggested for what seemed like the hundredth time as he prepared another plate of food for himself.

"But then I'd waste time talking when I could be eating. Yet here we are, talking anyway."

Wilson ignored the comment. He had been annoyed by House's unappreciative habit at first, more because House would never admit to his face that he actually liked Wilson's cooking than because of his constant theft. But he figured that as long as House let him stay, cooking for the two of them wasn't much to ask.

"So how's the patient doing?"

"After my expert diagnosis yesterday of meningitis, I think we can get the girl discharged relatively quickly."

"Meningitis? It took a week to diagnose meningitis?" Wilson asked, perplexed.

"She's also a compulsive liar and college-aged. A terrible combination if Cameron's on the case. You know how she likes to believe people. It took her that long to figure out all the symptoms. Although it was so worth it to see the look on her face when I was right. Again."

"Everybody lies, especially compulsive liars," Wilson quipped, taking his and House's dirty dishes to the sink. "Want a ride to work?"

"Taking the bike."

"House, it's snowing," Wilson turned from the sink to stare at him.

"Well, when I go for a tumble, let's just hope I land on the leg that's already messed up," House replied, already throwing on his jacket.

--------------------------------------------

When House arrived at his office, he peered through the glass into the conference room. Foreman, Chase… no Cameron yet. House dropped off his things and went into the conference room.

"Where's Cameron?"

"Don't know. She hasn't been in yet as far as I know," Foreman replied, checking his watch. When he noticed House still looking at him, he offered, "9:35."

Before anything else was said, Cameron appeared in the room, looking guilty.

"Tardy, Cameron. If it happens again, I'll have to keep you in for recess," House remarked. "Ok, people. What's the deal with Sally?"

"Cindy," Cameron corrected, moving to an empty chair.

"Whatever." House responded. "I'm assuming we're still dealing with meningitis here? No symptoms to add?"

"No new symptoms," Chase answered.

"That's unfortunate," House remarked. "And I was hoping this one was going to be interesting. I assume someone ran the same tests as last night to double check?"

"Since when did you double check anything?" Foreman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't, but Cameron does," House replied, speaking her name loudly to get her attention. She was being uncharacteristically quiet and her eyes were unfocused.

Cameron awoke from her daze. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

House eyed her suspiciously. "Are you planning to run the tests on the patient?"

"Already did," Cameron replied, happy to prove she had been useful although late. "Everything came back the same as last night. She's improving as expected and should be ready to leave this afternoon." Despite the good news about the patient, Cameron couldn't avoid sounding less than excited. She had to shake her mood, otherwise a certain nosy boss would be hounding her for information.

House had moved to the coffee-maker. "There's no coffee."

Chase shrugged, "Don't look at me." He hoped the crossword puzzle he had been working on was not easily visible beneath his patient file.

But House wasn't looking at Chase; he was watching Cameron. "You went to check on a patient before making coffee? I think you have your priorities confused."

Cameron rolled her eyes, "There are other people in this room capable of making coffee." She had noticed Chase's crossword and Foreman was still playing with House's oversized tennis ball. She got up to make the coffee anyway, not trusting House to do it himself.

"Yes, and there are other people capable of checking on a patient. But I need caffeine and I like to keep my women in the kitchen."

Cameron dropped the red mug she had taken from the shelf and turned to House, "Excuse me?"

House grimaced and whined, "You broke my mug!"

"Well, women forced to stay in the kitchen have been known to get angry and break things. I'm so sorry," she responded, clearly not meaning it.

Foreman and Chase shared a surprised and worried look. Both were glad to stay out of this discussion.

"Foreman, Chase, run up the blood work for Sandy and make sure that's clean. Cameron, you can run down to the gift shop and get me a new mug. Maybe one with a cute puppy on it to remind me of the fearsome woman I'm working with."

Foreman and Chase exited the room in a hurry. Cameron swept up the broken pieces with her hands and disposed of them. By the time she had turned around, House had removed to his office.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note:_ Thanks everyone for being so patient! I finally finished my Senior Thesis (all 80 pages of it) so now I have more time to write... and find a job of course. More action-filled chapters to come soon. Please R&R.

_Disclaimer: _Don't own.

**Chapter 3**

Cameron strode purposefully down the hallway towards the Oncology wing and was soon knocking at Dr. James Wilson's office door. She received no response and assumed he must be with a patient. She would have to get in touch with him later.

Cameron sighed and entered the nearby elevator to take her to the ground floor, where she could stop in the gift shop for a new mug. She did regret her outburst at House but she wasn't about to actually buy him a mug with puppies on it—of which there was a grand collection. She smiled inwardly, thinking this would be an opportunity to jab him back and show him how well she actually knew him. Unfortunately, none of the mugs available had quotes that were nearly sarcastic enough. This wasn't exactly surprising, considering people usually bought them as "get well" gifts.

As Cameron was about to settle for another plain red mug, her foot brushed up against a cardboard box on the floor which had been only partly unpacked. She lifted the flap to find many more mugs, none of them sporting cute pets or sappy quotes. As Cameron pulled one out to read it, a saleswoman approached and picked up the box from the floor.

"I'm sorry, I must have forgotten that I left these here. We're actually sending them back to the supplier. They're not exactly appropriate for a hospital gift store. We think they must have sent us the wrong batch."

Cameron looked at the mug still in her hand. It read: "I'm the dude your girlfriend's been dating online."

"I'll take this one," Cameron announced. She received a puzzled look from the woman. "It's for my boss."

This didn't seem to explain her choice, because the woman's look went from confused to worried. "If you're sure…"

Cameron took the mug to the checkout counter to pay. As she exited the store, she realized that she would prefer to keep away from House for the time being. She knew that once he figured out that something was wrong with her, he would badger her endlessly for information. And she definitely wasn't ready to talk about it with anyone. Unless, of course, that person was Wilson.

-------------------------------------------------

"But you finished your clinic hours for this week," Cuddy reminded her.

"I know…" Cameron tried to think of an excuse. "But I know you could always use help down here. And our patient will be discharged this afternoon, so I'm free."

Cuddy was not convinced. "House isn't making you answer his mail or file something?"

"He can handle it." Cameron responded, a little too quickly.

"I see." Cameron didn't want to be around House, Cuddy mused. This wasn't surprising news, but Cameron usually admitted when House was driving her nuts, and now she was hiding it. "Well, you can take House's hours, then. He's got rollover."

Cameron replied, "Thanks," and went straight to work.

-------------------------------------------------

Foreman and Chase spent the morning checking up on Cindy and were convinced that she was healthy enough to return home that afternoon. Chase approached the nurse's station to ask a nurse to set up an appointment for Cindy to get a checkup. He found Foreman completing some paperwork.

"So what's going on with Cameron do you think?"

"What do you mean?" Foreman asked, puzzled.

"Well, I haven't seen her all morning. And she was acting strange earlier."

Foreman sighed, "My guess is if she wants us to know, she'll tell us. She only hides things for a reason."

They ceased their present conversation when they saw House approaching.

He looked around warily, "Anyone seen Cuddy?"

"Nope," Chase replied. "Don't tell me you're actually looking for her?"

"Booty call. She owes me." House suppressed his urge to give Chase a look that signified the stupidity of the question. He was too concerned with Cuddy finding him to waste time belittling Chase this morning, "I expected her to be begging for it by now. Patient discharged?"

"Cindy?" Foreman asked.

"Well, she is on the top of my list of patients I'm concerned about," House remarked sarcastically.

"She's being discharged now."

"Excellent. Now who wants be buy me lunch?"

Foreman and Chase eyed him like now he was the one asking stupid questions.

"Nevermind. If Cuddy asks, I'm doing paperwork in my office."

Chase sniffed, "I'm sure she'd believe that," as House hobbled towards the cafeteria.

-------------------------------------------------

House joined the cafeteria line behind Wilson, who had just arrived.

"How's the patient?" Wilson asked.

House replied, "We're getting her out of here, finally. How's yours?"

Wilson scoffed, "Do you care?"

"No." House cocked his eyebrows. "Are you people sharing stupid pills today? All these ridiculous questions…" House looked from the cashier to Wilson to suggest that Wilson was paying and walked away with his food.

Wilson paid resignedly and followed House to a booth. "You should be careful. I heard a rumor someone snuck the pills into your Vicodin bottle too."

House was not paying attention. He had ducked under a condiment counter. Wilson looked to the doorway to see that Cuddy had just entered the cafeteria.

"She's going to know you're there if I'm standing here talking to thin air."

House whispered angrily, "Now you're just being stupid on purpose. Go away!"

It was too late. Cuddy had rounded the corner and was gazing down at House's back. "Very clever. My nephew pulls the same trick."

House stood up with some difficulty, putting weight on his new, sturdier cane while trying to balance his tray in his other hand. "I saw a rat," House suggested, knowing that Cuddy wouldn't believe him, but that her germophobia was so intense that she'd spend her afternoon getting the cafeteria checked anyway.

Cuddy's face portrayed her disgust. Meanwhile, in his peripheral vision, House noticed that Cameron had approached Wilson and was speaking to him in a low voice. It seemed she did not want to be overheard. Cuddy tried to get House's attention, saying, "You don't have to bother avoiding me. Not this week anyway. I'm not going to make you go to the clinic, so you can play your Gameboy and watch TV all you like—or if you're really motivated, have your team get some paperwork done."

She had House's attention. Why was she so indulgent all of a sudden? "You're not making me do my clinic hours?"

"They're taken care of. Just do me a favor, ok? Stop bugging Cameron."

House was not sure how to respond as Cuddy walked away. Cameron was also heading out the door and Wilson was beginning his lunch. House sat down at the booth and took a bite out of his Rueben.

"Apparently Cameron offered to take my clinic hours."  
"Generous girl," Wilson remarked.

"I don't know why she's doing me favors after I yelled at her." After pretending to consider the situation, he added, "Maybe she likes that."

"Why did you yell at her?"

"She broke my coffee mug! Can you believe it?"

"The nerve!" Wilson replied sarcastically. With a look of warning, he said, "I'm sure it was an accident."

"Oh yeah. I think she's…" House lowered his voice: "PMSing."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Maybe she's trying to get your attention. She's exhausted just about every other method."

"Nope, she's over me." House spoke matter-of-factly. But his brow knitted slightly as he remembered her sensual manner of paying for the bet she lost to him.

"What makes you think that?" Wilson scoffed.

"She told me."

"Right. Everybody lies, except Dr. Cameron." Wilson paused, thinking. "Well, in that case, she's probably avoiding you. She's hiding out in the clinic, the place you're least likely to find her."

"Why would she do that? I'm a blast!" House said, gathering his things to leave.

Wilson panicked, thinking he might have given House the exact information he wanted. "Leave her alone." Cameron had approached Wilson a few moments earlier to ask him if they could discuss an important matter. Wilson told her to meet him in his office in an hour. She seemed worried but determined to talk to him about the matter. Wilson guessed that this had something to do with why she was avoiding House. And why House was so interested.

"Are you kidding?" House asked. "There's something going on and I need to know."


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note_: Since you were all so patient while I did my thesis, I hurried to get this chapter done. Please R&R. Enjoy!

_Disclaimer: _Don't own.

**Chapter 4**

Cameron entered Exam Room One to find a 16-year old girl waiting anxiously with her mother.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cameron. You must be Elsie."

"Hi," the girl responded. Her mother spoke next.

"My daughter has a personal question for you. I don't want her to feel like she has anything to hide, so I'm going to step outside while you examine her."

Cameron was surprised, to say the least. Most concerned parents refused to budge from their children's sides during a doctor's appointment. She smiled at the woman's effort to make things easier for them. "Thank you, I'll come get you if I need anything."

Elsie's mother squeezed her daughter's hand reassuringly and left the room. Elsie looked only more nervous.

"So Elsie, what seems to be bothering you?"

Elsie looked embarrassed, but responded, "I haven't had my period."

Cameron nodded. "In how long?"

"Ever."

Cameron nodded again. "Ok, I'll need to ask you a few questions. It might be easier for you now that your mother's waiting outside, because I need you to be completely honest."

Elsie nodded, "Ok."

"Have you been sexually active?"

Elsie sighed and seemed almost annoyed. "That's what my mother keeps asking me. I keep telling her no, but she doesn't believe me."

Cameron smiled softly. "I believe you."

Elsie smiled back, hesitantly.

Cameron continued, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," Elsie replied, disappointed.

"Are there any boys you like at school?"

"Well," she hesitated. "There is one. But he doesn't even know who I am."

"Boys can be kind of stupid sometimes," Cameron replied.

"That's for sure."

The door suddenly flew open to reveal Dr. House. "Cameron, need a consult."

"I rest my point," Cameron looked at her patient, raising her eyebrows significantly in House's direction. Elsie giggled and House looked from one to the other in confusion. "I'll just be a minute," Cameron said as she left the room.

After Cameron closed the door, House asked, "Are you two going to make friendship bracelets after school today? Can I come too?"

Cameron stared back at House. "You needed a consult?"

"Yeah. I have this… patient. She exhibits signs of decreased attention span, uncharacteristic rage, unwillingness to speak, and sudden generosity with no clear cause. Not sure what to do about this one."

"Is there any evidence that she's actually sick?"

"There is, most definitely, something wrong with her."

Cameron released her breath through her nose and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

House continued, "Oh and recently, she's showing signs that her rage will relapse. I was thinking it was simply PMS at first, but then I remembered that she complained to Dr. Cuddy about cramps a week and a half ago, so now I'm thinking there's something else going on."

Cameron placed her hands on her hips. "What seems more interesting about this case is the doctor's interest in it, especially when he's usually so hesitant to take cases in general. It's almost like his interest is more than professional," she explained with a hint of a smirk.

House opened his mouth to respond, but Cameron interrupted him, "My diagnosis is that your patient is healthy and that she doesn't want any medical advice… from you, at least." With that, Cameron returned to the exam room and left House watching her with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry about that. Boys! Honestly."

Elsie giggled again, "You like him, don't you?"

Cameron was surprised by the question. "I… uh. It's complicated. He's my boss."

Elsie offered, "Well I think it's kind of cool. Like, that you don't care that he's older than you. Dan, the guy I like, he's 20. Mom would flip out if she knew I liked him."

Cameron smiled, "Elsie, it's a little different when you're older. It's still difficult, but at your age, it's very difficult to get involved with an older guy. And if you were to have sex with him, it's actually illegal, since you're not 18 yet."

Elsie laughed, "Oh, don't worry. He is definitely not interested in having sex with me. Besides, I'm totally not ready yet."

Cameron replied, "That's good. You shouldn't feel pressured to do anything until you're ready. Now I have a few more questions for you: Are you on any medications?"

"Only my asthma medicine. Preg…something."

"Prednisone?"

"Yeah."

"Have you been taking any other pills or vitamins or anything like that?"

"Nope."

"And have you taken any illegal drugs?"

"Definitely not."

"Have you ever been to a gynecologist?"

"No, I haven't. That whole idea kind of scares me," Elsie admitted.

"There's no reason to be scared. And now that you're getting older, you're going to want to think about seeing one regularly. Especially once you start having sex. But for now, I want to give you a quick pelvic exam to make sure everything is ok down there. It might feel a little awkward but I promise it won't hurt. I can ask your mom to come in with you if you want."

"No that's ok," Elsie answered, feeling a bit braver now. "Let's just do it."

It only took a few minutes for Cameron to complete the exam and found nothing to worry her. "Everything looks fine. I'm going to ask your mother to come in so I can ask her a few questions. Then I'll want to run a couple of simple tests."

Cameron invited Elsie's mother back in the room, asked again about any medications or pills Elsie might have taken or mistaken for something else. She said there were none that she could think of. Cameron explained that it was possibly that Elsie was simply a late bloomer. Otherwise, Elsie's problem was most likely a hormone imbalance, something that could be easily corrected with estrogen injections. She also explained that when the periods started coming, they might be irregular or heavy due to the hormones, and that birth control pills could help regulate her flow. Cameron said that Elsie should check in with her in a month and gave a nurse the directions for the tests. When Cameron looked at her watch, she was surprised that it was already 1:00pm.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: _Don't own.

**Chapter 5**

Cuddy walked into House's office to find him engrossed in his Gameboy. He looked up to see her come in, "I thought we agreed not to see each other today. I understand it's difficult, but absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"We agreed that I wasn't going to bother you about clinic duty. But I can still bother you about cases," Cuddy replied as she dropped a file in front of him. House simply sneered at it. "45-year old male with persisting migraine headaches, dizziness, double-vision and nausea."

"Blah blah blah. Boring."

"By 'persisting' I mean at least one migraine per day."

"That can't be fun," House said as he opened the file.

Cuddy had opened her mouth to continue but stopped when House began studying the man's condition. "That was easy."

"Nothing like a red-headed hooker before breakfast to put me in a good mood."

Cuddy looked disgusted, "I really don't need to know."

House wouldn't normally be so willing to take a case, but he wanted to keep his team busy. It was easier to keep track of them and watch them, if necessary, when they were concentrated on a case—even if it was an easy one. He paged Foreman, Cameron and Chase and entered the conference room, grabbing his black marker from the white board.

-------------------------------------------------

Cameron knocked at Dr. Wilson's door and entered when she heard him call, "Come in."

Wilson smiled and gestured for her to sit down. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you because I received some bad news this morning," Cameron began.

Wilson's demeanor became more serious and he waited patiently for her to continue.

"My older brother, Jack—he's 33—was just recently diagnosed with lung cancer."

Wilson moved from behind his desk and sat in the chair opposite Cameron. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Cameron continued, "I don't know much yet. Neither does he, actually, but I can tell he's scared. He's been divorced for two years now, he has no children, and our parents passed away years ago. I know he's lonely and has no one to turn to where he is now." Cameron paused and Wilson realized that she might be considering how some of his social concerns might be similar to her own. Even before this news, she hadn't seemed very happy. Cameron took a deep breath and explained, "Jack's a fiction writer but hasn't really had his break yet. Meanwhile, he's a freelance writer for the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio. I suggested that he move out to Princeton and live with me, at least until he knows what he has to deal with. I was hoping you'd be willing to treat him."

"Allison," Wilson replied, using her first name for the first time. He knew that he had to be more than a colleague to her in this situation—he had to be a friend. Although he had hoped it could have been under better circumstances, he was happy to be able to get closer to her. "I promise to do everything I possibly can for Jack. You can trust me."

Cameron smiled, knowing that she did trust Wilson a great deal. She also knew he could be a great friend—he put up with House, after all. Although Cameron admitted that she would naturally be melancholy during this experience, she could be strong. It was helpful to know that she had someone at her side. "Thanks, Dr. Wilson. It really means a lot," she said, standing up.

"You have my number. Please call me if you ever need anything. And as you probably know, I'm staying with House for a while so you can reach me there as well."

"I appreciate it."

Wilson grasped her elbow gently as he said, "This will be a difficult time, as you know. But don't lose hope, and enjoy the time you have with your brother." He paused a moment, imagining what Jack might be like. "I'm looking forward to meeting him. I'm sure he's awfully proud of you."

Cameron took another deep breath to avoid crying. She had held back her emotions all morning; she just wanted to get through the rest of the day before she let it all out. She found herself moving forward to meet Wilson's hug and felt instant comfort. She had never thought about how long it had been since she actually hugged another human being for her own consolation—she was usually the one comforting others. She rested her chin on Wilson's shoulder for a moment, feeling almost at peace when her pager started beeping. She let out a sigh that was almost a groan—it was House.

"I have to go, but I'll let you know what I hear from Jack. And thank you again."

"Don't mention it," Wilson smiled as Cameron exited his office. It never ceased to amaze him how strong she was, but he worried about House's influence. House wouldn't rest until he knew everything.

-------------------------------------------------

Migraines. Dizziness. Double Vision. Nausea. House had written the symptoms on the white board as Cameron entered the conference room to join Foreman and Chase.

Chase waited for House to write more but he simply began fiddling with the marker. "That's all? What's so interesting about this case? Everything can be explained by a chronic migraine problem."

"But what's causing the migraines? I should also mention that these migraines occur at least once a day."

Foreman looked puzzled. "What else do we know?"

"Only that he's a 45 year old male. Your turn to do the history. We'll wait." Foreman did not hesitate—he grabbed his clipboard and lab coat before leaving the room.

"Why did you even take this case? Sounds more like a clinic patient's concerns, and you avoid them like…" Chase had trouble finding a good metaphor, since there was nothing House worked harder to avoid than clinic patients.

"All our recent cases have been interesting. I figured a boring case might break up the monotony. Go check his serotonin and the usual stuff."

It was a few moments before Cameron realized that she was in the room alone with House. Her thoughts had been drifting again, but her mind sprung back to the present as she noticed House scrutinizing her. It made her a bit uncomfortable so she retrieved the mug from her bag and offered it to him.

House read the quote on it and snorted. She knew him better than he liked to admit. "Thanks."

Although it was a seemingly innocent word, his expression of thanks caught Cameron off-guard. Was House being _nice_? Was this some new tactic to get her to open up to him? "You're welcome."

She didn't worry so much about what he'd say if he knew what was going on. Yet, she didn't want him to view her as weak or incapable of doing her job due to personal matters. She remembered the way her colleagues treated her during the HIV scare; she didn't want to be pitied. It was best if House didn't know.

He was still watching her; she turned away from his penetrating gaze to see Foreman entering the room, who immediately began speaking, "He's getting these migraines once a day, sometimes twice, but he never had them before 2 weeks ago. He doesn't show any symptoms that can't be explained by the migraines, but considering the recent onset, it seems like a neurological problem. Brain tumor, maybe."

"Do a CT scan." Foreman nodded and left directly.

"MRI too, to be sure," Cameron added and hurried out of the room, hoping House wouldn't stop her.

"Hey hey! I give the orders around here." Cameron paused and looked to him expectantly. "Ok, do the MRI. But first, will you just tell me what's going on with you? Curiosity kills more than cats you know."

"There's nothing going on," Cameron attempted to imbue her words with a tone of warning.

"You're lying. You were weird this morning and that clearly didn't go away."

"You didn't go away either. See a connection?" Cameron replied snarkily. Keeping House interested in her, even if it was just for information, wasn't all that bad, she mused.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note: We're finally getting to some of the good stuff. Sorry this is so slow-paced; I like to make it last! Thanks to all the wonderful reviews. You guys make me want to write everyday._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any House characters. I only own Jack. _

**Chapter 6**

The CT scan and MRI came back clear for the migraine patient, Daryl. The team pushed meds to help lessen the headache pain and called it a night.

Cameron was anxious to get home and speak with her brother. After she walked in the door of her apartment, she stuck a frozen dinner in the microwave and picked up the phone. The caller ID showed two calls from Jack.

She dialed his number and he picked up after two rings: "Hello?"

"Hi Jack, it's me."

"Allison, hey! How was your day?"

Cameron groaned. "Long. How are you?"

"Good. Listen, I've been arranging things on my end and I can come as early as tomorrow if that's convenient for you."

"Tomorrow—wow, that sounds great. I'm not sure I can get out of work to pick you up from the airport, but if you take a cab to the hospital, I can take you home from there."

"Sounds good to me. The flight lands…" Jack paused and Cameron could hear him typing at the computer. "at 7pm. Is that too late?"

"No, that should be fine actually. Just do me a favor, when you get to the hospital, have them direct you to Dr. Wilson's office."

"He's the cancer doctor, right?"

"Right. It would be great if you could meet, but to be honest, my main concern is that you're greeted by the right people." Cameron dreaded having Jack show up at House's office; already a multitude of unpleasant situations sprung to mind. Avoiding House was definitely the way to go.

"What do you mean?" Jack sounded puzzled.

"I'll explain when you get here. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Can't wait. See you, sis."

"Bye."

Cameron extracted her meal from the microwave and sat down to eat, trying in vain to relax. At least she was finally going to see her brother again.

-------------------------------------------------

Cameron dragged her feet to get to work in the morning. She kept reminding herself that it would be easier to get through her day knowing her brother was nearby. Of course, then she'd also have to deal with his diagnosis. She sighed exasperatedly. At least they could get through it together. Only one more day.

First to the office as usual, Cameron made coffee and began sorting House's mail. Foreman stopped in briefly before checking on the patient. Chase walked in as Foreman was returning. He explained, "He's looking ok for now. Meds are working, but still no idea what's causing the migraines."

House finally entered and Foreman repeated his findings. House studied the white board while the others silently wracked their brains for a cause.

After a few minutes, House spoke up, "Paraneoplastic syndrome."

Cameron shook her head, "That wouldn't cause migraines."

Chase responded slowly, "It could… in rare cases."

"But there's no tumor in his brain. We would have seen it," Foreman urged.

"A tumor elsewhere might have caused something else to trigger the migraines." House added resignedly, "Do a full body scan."

For once, they didn't argue considering none of them had any better ideas and so they left to complete the scan. Soon after, Wilson stopped by House's office.

Noticing that the other three were missing, he asked, "New patient?"

"Migraine guy. At least once a day every day for the past two weeks and no clear cause. They're doing a full body scan now."

"That'll keep them busy. So you're distracting her with pointless tests while you attempt to discern clues?"

"You can't tell me you're not even a little curious. This could potentially be some pretty amazing dirt. And I know you can't pass that up, you gossip queen."

"You are so lame," Wilson muttered.

"What tipped you off? The cane?" House countered.

"I meant your sense of humor, not your leg."

"It still hurts," House replied, faking his wounded pride.

"Your leg?"

"Yes, it flares up with every cruel word you utter," he replied sarcastically.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Leave Cameron alone. You'll probably figure it out sooner or later."

Wilson's lack of concern and brush-off attitude alerted House at once. "She told you, didn't she?"

Wilson didn't respond.

"Well, what is it?" House asked.

"I can't tell you."

"Yeah right! You couldn't keep a secret if you tried. Bros before hoes, remember?"

Wilson only glared back.

House's jaw dropped with realization. "You can't tell me because of a confidentiality agreement. That means this is a health issue." House's triumphant expression faded as he pondered, "But she doesn't seem sick. Interesting."

"Drop it. This is hard for her." Wilson tried changing the subject. "So what are you going to do when the scan comes back clean?"

"Find out who screwed up."

-------------------------------------------------

Foreman, Cameron, and Chase returned to find House crossing out "neurological" and "tumor" from the white board.

"How did you know there was no tumor?" Chase asked, amazed.

"Lucky guess. Anything interesting on the scan?"

"Swollen lymph nodes, but nothing pointing to the cause of the migraines," Foreman answered.

"Ok, back to square one. How's his vision?"

"Perfect," answered Cameron.

"How long ago did he get his eyes checked?"

"Recently. He needed a vision test for his new job."

"Ok, not a vision problem." House crossed out "vision" just as he had finished writing it on the board. "What's the job?"

"State trooper. He's scheduled to begin next week," Cameron said, consulting the patient's history.

"New job. Vision test. My guess is he also needed a drug test. Now we get to the fun stuff."

"But his tox screen is clean," Foreman said, glancing at the patient's file.

"Did _you_ do the tox screen?" House asked. Foreman shook his head. "I should hope not. A policeman and a black guy in the same room? That's just asking for trouble. Chase, did you do the tox screen?"

"Nope," Chase answered.

Cameron's expression made it clear that she was going to dread the rest of this discussion.

"Oh good," House continued in a fake-satisfied manner. "Then Cameron must have done it."

"Not exactly" was her reply.

"What?" House replied with a melodramatically loud voice.

"His urine sample was clean," she answered simply.

"The urine sample _you _took?"

"The urine sample his doctor took during an appointment two days before he was admitted."

House grinned in a way that made it clear he had solved the puzzle but was not too happy with the results. "And no one could possibly fake a urine sample. Have I taught you nothing?"

Chase was still confused. "Why would he bring a fake urine sample if he went to the doctor to be cured?"

"He needed clean urine for the doctor's test so he could use it for the drug test as well. If he told his employer he had just submitted a urine test to his doctor, they probably wouldn't make him submit another one. Smart move on his part, _stupid_ move on Cameron's. Do the tox screen. One of the real ones this time."

The three of them began to leave the room.

"Not you," House said, looking at Cameron. "We need to talk."


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note: _Sorry to keep you guys dangling on that hiffclanger (I really like that words and need to use it more often). Thanks for the wonderful reviews!

_Disclaimer: _Don't own.

**Chapter 7**

"You're off the case."

Cameron simply stared at House for a moment. "You're joking."

"Usually when I do that, it's funny. Not joking."

"You think I can't do my job?" Cameron asked, almost yelling.

"I didn't say you can't. I'm only saying you aren't. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor. Now you can spend all day moping without getting anyone killed."

"You're overreacting," was all Cameron could reply, shocked and angry that House was doing this. A small nagging voice inside her was telling her that maybe she deserved it. "I wasn't about to kill anyone."

Now House was getting frustrated, so he replied loudly, "I won't tolerate laziness."

"Now I'm lazy?"

"You're suspiciously quiet, you haven't exerted your full attention or energy to this case, and you skipped a routine procedure. That's lazy."

Cameron was fuming. Before saying something she knew she'd regret, she turned on her heel to leave.

"Who died?" House called after her.

She halted mid-step, dreading where this was going. "No one died."

"Obviously. I only said that to get your attention. If someone had died, you'd be taking time off. But if someone was near dying, you'd be acting the way you have been the past few days. What is it? Cancer?"

Cameron whipped around. "Wilson told you?"

"No. Lucky guess."

Cameron huffed. "My brother. He has lung cancer. Are you happy now?"

House looked slightly apologetic. "I'm sorry."

Cameron turned to leave but again stopped herself. She walked closer to House and said bitingly, "You're not sorry. You're a liar. You always do this, harass people until they tell you what they clearly don't want to tell you. Now you see why I didn't."

House responded, "That's not exactly logical. Because if you had told me a while ago, we could have avoided this unpleasant situation entirely."

"What are you saying? That you think I like when you badger me about an issue that's clearly making me so upset that I can't even perform well in my job?"

House knew he was about take this too far, but he couldn't help pushing her on this issue; it had been driving him nuts and he was about to get to the bottom of it. "You do it for the attention. Wilson knows… he'll baby you all you want. Cuddy would too. And as soon as you walk in the door, you have Foreman's and Chase's attention. What you wanted was mine. And you knew you'd get it as long as you kept your little secret."

Cameron couldn't remember ever being so angry, but she controlled her impulse to slap her boss. "Why don't you push your theory one step further? Everybody lies, right House? Maybe I'm making it all up. Maybe my brother's actually just fine. Maybe I don't even have a brother. Or maybe I'm telling the truth. Haven't I always told you the truth? And can't you just give me a break now that there's something big, something important affecting my life that I can't fix…"

Cameron couldn't speak any longer without breaking down, so with her words still drifting in the air between House and herself, she left the room.

-------------------------------------------------

Wilson noticed Cameron storm through the doors of the clinic, hastily grab the next patient file and pointing the next "sick person" into exam room two. Wilson knew something was up—it took a lot to make Cameron act so out of character.

He entered the room with a knock. "Dr. Cameron, can I borrow you for a consult?"

"Sure." Cameron dropped her file on the counter and followed Wilson into an empty exam room.

"Want to talk?" he asked pointedly.

Cameron sighed in frustration, and looked everywhere but at him, clearly hesitating.

"I won't say anything to House."

Cameron offered a bemused look before saying, "He took me off the case."

Wilson looked surprised. This was not typical House behavior.

"Reflecting on it now, I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. I've been very distracted since I found out about Jack. But that doesn't make me lazy."

"House said that?"

"Yeah. It just made me angry that he wouldn't back off the issue. He just had to know what was going on. It's none of his goddamn business. But it's easier to give in than to have him hassle me non-stop."

Wilson crossed his arms in front of his chest before offering, "I can't say his nosiness is anything new. But taking you off the case… that's a bit extreme." Wilson desperately wanted to confront House and ask what him what his problem was, but he had just told Cameron he'd stay out of it.

"Cameron, my advice is to worry about your brother right now. You can get on House's good graces later," he added with a touch of sarcasm.

"Oh, that reminds me. Jack is actually flying in tonight. Would it be ok if I met up with him at your office? I'd prefer to keep House out of this."

"No problem. You better get back to your patient."

"That's probably a good idea. Thanks, Wilson."

He watched her leave the room, hoping he could help her through this. It hurt that not only was House being insensitive as usual, but that Cameron had no one else to turn to. He wasn't planning on letting her down.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note:_I hope to stay on task with this but don't freak out if I have any long-ish breaks. Ipromise to return! I'm graduating from college in 20 days! So I have a lot of finishing up to do. Thanks again for reading.

_Disclaimer:_ Don't own.

**Chapter 8**

After completing her hours at the clinic, Cameron approached the Diagnostics office. Although she was off the case, she wanted to make sure her mistake hadn't had any serious results. Chase was there, getting a cup of coffee.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey," he acknowledged her with a look of concern. "How are you?"

"Fine. How's Daryl?" Chase responded with a confused look. "The patient," she added.

"He'll be ok. Sorry about House being a dick. He overreacted."

"It's no big deal; I made a mistake, so I have to deal with the outcome. What I really want to hear about is the patient. Anything on the tox screen?"

"Actually, no. So what you did had no effect on the diagnosis. Foreman and I searched his home, found some pills in a plastic bag by his bathroom sink. Apparently Daryl took them, thinking they were ibuprofen, but they were actually Travatan. His wife was taking them for her low blood pressure. He kept taking larger doses because they weren't helping the muscle pain he was having at the time. So, naturally the Travatan induced constant migraines because he kept taking them."

"But then why didn't he have low BP?"

"Because he also started drinking a lot of coffee. Since the 'ibuprofen' was only causing headaches, he figured another form of caffeine would help get rid of them. The stimulant's effects boosted his BP back to normal."

Cameron nodded. Chase added, "House was right, someone screwed up. It just wasn't you."

"I got lucky. And House _was_ right. My mind wasn't on the case."

Chase again looked concerned, "Cameron, is everything ok?"

Cameron knew that Chase would probably figure out what was going on sooner or later, but she didn't have the energy to repeat the story. "I received some bad news recently. But I'll be fine."

Cameron checked her watch. It was already 8pm. "I need to get going."

"Ok, see you later," Chase watched Cameron hurry down the hall.

-------------------------------------------------

Wilson watched as Cameron paced back and forth in front of his office door. He had asked her to sit in his office, but she preferred to be on her feet. He had stood with her for nearly half an hour waiting for her brother before she told him not to wait any longer. He was getting his things together to go home. He had hoped to take Cameron and Jack to dinner tonight but it was getting late now. He hoisted his bag on his shoulder and exited his office, locking the door behind him.

"No word yet?" he asked.

Cameron stopped pacing and began fiddling with the antenna of her cell phone. "I've left a few voicemails but his phone is turned off. His flight must be delayed."

"You should probably head home. There's no use sticking around here."

Cameron sighed nervously. "I suppose I can ask him to take a cab to my place."

Wilson nodded, "Come on. I'll walk you to your car."

Cameron resigned to the fact that there would have to be a change of plans. She hated changing plans last minute. She also didn't know why she was so nervous. A flight delay was no big deal. She'd simply call the airport when she got home and ask when Jack's flight would arrive.

She and Wilson walked to the parking garage in silence. She was too concerned to maintain a conversation and he didn't know what to say to ease her worries. As they approached her car, he offered, "I'm sure he's fine. Call me if you need anything, ok?"

"Thanks, I'll do that." Cameron unlocked her car and tossed her bag on the passenger's side seat.

"Oh and Cameron?"  
She turned to look at Wilson.

"Could I take you out to dinner sometime this week? You could bring Jack along too."

Cameron was surprised but pleased. "I'd like that." Wilson smiled in reply. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya," he answered, smiling before he left to find his own car.

Cameron sat in her vehicle, pondering Wilson's request. She had never really thought of him as "date" material, and she couldn't say this was actually a date either. Nonetheless, she looked forward to dinner with him even if her brother was tagging along. Cameron started her car and began the short drive home. Suddenly she realized that dinner might not be a good idea and the reasons came flooding to her. Wilson was married. How could she forget that simple fact? Rumors in the office claimed that his marriage was on the rocks, but that didn't make an almost-dinner-date ok. Actually, it made things worse. Secondly, considering the voracious appetite for rumors at the hospital, this would paint Cameron in the worst light. She had dated her boss and rumors of her unrequited love for him were still circling, then she had slept with her colleague in a drug-induced state and shown up to work in near-shambles. And now she was about to date another doctor at the hospital? The final reason wasn't the best one, but it still bothered her: what would House think? Even worse: what would he say? This was definitely not a good idea.

Cameron was home before she knew it. After taking off her coat and setting down her bag, she checked the answering machine. No messages. She called Jack's cell phone again but it was still turned off. She called the airport and realized that she didn't even know what flight Jack was on. After a few rings, she was on the line with an attendant.

"Hi, I'm looking for information on my brother's expected arrival time. His name is Jack Cameron and he was flying from Columbus, Ohio, to Newark, New Jersey. His flight was supposed to arrive at 7pm."

"Give me one moment while I look up his information." After a minute on hold, Cameron heard the attendant pick up the line. "It looks like Mr. Cameron was on a direct flight from Columbus to Newark that arrived on time at 6:55pm."

Cameron was definitely nervous now. "Do you know anything about his whereabouts?"

"I see that he checked one bag that was picked up from baggage claim. It is most likely he got delayed en route. However, I can page him in the terminal if you like."

"Yes, please do. Please ask him to contact Allison Cameron. Thank you for your help."

Cameron's hands shook and she hung up the phone. She knew Jack always turned on his phone when he left the airport and it seemed unlikely that he'd forget. The clock read 9:15. She tried to calm herself down. He wasn't that late. He probably got stuck in traffic. The battery in his phone probably died. He'd get in touch with her soon.

It was almost like she had willed it to happen, because suddenly the phone was ringing.

"Hello?"

"This is Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital calling for Allison Cameron," an unfamiliar woman's voice greeted her.

Cameron was puzzled. If House needed her back at the hospital, why didn't he page her? "Dr. Cameron speaking."

"Dr. Cameron! Oh, this is Betty Arnold. I didn't realize it was you I was calling."

Cameron now realized the ER attendant's voice, but she was confused by Betty's reaction. "What do you need?"

"I need you to come to the hospital. Your brother, Jack, is here."

Allison breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh that's good. I've been worrying about him."

"Dr. Cameron," Betty's voice was suddenly grave. "Your brother was transported via ambulance about 20 minutes ago. He's in a very serious condition right now."

Cameron did not hear the rest of what she had to say. She was already out the door and on her way back to the hospital.


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's note:_ I deeply apologize for having neglected this story for so long! I just finished up my final paper--the very last assignment of my undergraduate career, in fact. So now, I'm definitely ready to continue on with this, especially since I don't actually have a job yet. Hope you enjoy!

_Disclaimer:_ Don't own.

**Chapter 9**

Wilson awoke abruptly a mere 10 minutes after he had finally fallen asleep to his cell phone ringing. He had been sleeping better after having moved into a condo near the hospital—his bed was certainly more comfortable than House's sofa—but tonight he had had a hard time dozing off. He had been replaying his conversation with Cameron over and over in his mind, wondering if he was making the right decision about pursuing her so soon after his separation with his wife. The divorce wasn't quite final yet and he did have a notorious reputation with women. He wasn't even sure how he felt about his beautiful colleague; he did know he wanted to be there for her during a difficult time in her life.

Dinner with Cameron and her brother wasn't inappropriate. It was thoughtful. At least that's how Wilson rationalized his instinctual response to ask her out. He was surprised at his own behavior, he remembered thinking just before he had dozed off. But it did not measure up to the surprise he felt when he heard Cameron's trembling voice on the line.

"Allison? Are you ok?"

"Dr. Wilson, I'm so sorry for calling you this late. You said I could call if I needed anything, and I really need you right now."

Wilson sat up in bed, his heart beating rapidly as he hung on her last words.

She continued, "It's my brother. He's in the ICU here at the hospital. Something happened to him on his way to my place … Can you come in?" She sounded very shaken up.

Wilson was already up and changing his clothes. "I'm on my way," he responded before hanging up.

-------------------------------------------------

Cameron checked her watch, then rested her elbows on her knees and dropped her head into her hands. It had been nearly 4 hours since Jack had been admitted to the hospital. While riding in a taxi to meet Cameron, he had suddenly found himself unable to breathe. Being so near the hospital, the driver hurried to Princeton-Plainsboro. Since then, Chase, who had been working the late shift, conducted all the tests he could think of to determine what was causing Jack's acute respiratory problems while Wilson attempted to learn more about the status of his lung cancer. The conditions certainly seemed linked, but they weren't taking any chances.

Cameron wanted to help and she did as much as she could to assist Chase, but they both knew that she was not in the right state of mind to help diagnose her brother. Jack had labored breathing but was sleeping now, which allowed Cameron some time to herself. Sitting in a waiting area near Jack's room, she realized that she couldn't allow herself to sleep; she wanted be aware if a new symptom manifested itself. It was difficult, though, because she was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Dr. Wilson gazing down at her. She smiled weakly at him as he sat down next to her and handed her a coffee.

"I have some news." Cameron took a deep breath before Wilson continued, "We finally got faxed Jack's records from his doctor. According to these x-rays, his tumor is small, but we'll need to do more x-rays to see what has changed since they were taken and hopefully, we'll able to operate to extract the tumor. But we still need to figure out what caused his episode tonight. It's possible it was caused by the cancer."

"You don't sound too convinced."

"We simply don't want to ignore any possibilities."

Cameron smiled again. "I really appreciate everything you're doing."

Wilson returned her smile. "You're welcome. I'm going to take Jack to get x-rays and then we can look at them together, ok?"

Cameron's eyes welled up. It meant so much to her that she could trust Wilson implicitly with her brother's health and that he would in turn take care of her: he knew how to comfort her and keep her included. She only nodded to him as he left to attend to Jack.

-------------------------------------------------

_Some hours later…_

House entered the hospital in a positive mood, which was uncommon for him. He had been getting a lot more sleep now that he and Wilson were getting used to each other's sleeping schedules. Wilson was more considerate of House's tendency to sleep in, and so the apartment was again moderately quiet in the morning aside from Steve McQueen's rummaging around in his cage.

His good mood diminished when he entered the Diagnostics office. It was empty, but it was clear that people had been there recently. Coffee was still brewing, files and papers littered the conference table and Wilson's unreadable scribbling was etched across the white board. House debated about whether to page his team or to go in search of Wilson and find out what was going on. He chose the latter, thinking it would be easier to get straight answers out of Wilson.

House ventured down the hall and soon noticed Wilson approaching him from another side hallway, coming from the patient rooms. House walked towards him and observed, "You look like hell. Been here a while?"

"Yeah, I have. Look, we need to talk."

"We certainly do. Where's my team?"

"On a case… House?"

House was no longer paying attention to Wilson. He had noticed Cameron down the hall, sitting in a nearby waiting room and with her head resting on one of her propped up arms. She was asleep and House was annoyed. He had hobbled quickly in her direction and before Wilson could stop him, House was poking her with his cane. Cameron jolted awake, clearly surprised that she had fallen asleep.

"So you both seem to have had long nights. I may have kicked you off the case, but that's no excuse to be taking naps. That's my job. Now will you get in my office? Find Foreman and Chase while you're up."

After a look of disgust at House and a look of anger at Wilson, she turned around and entered a nearby patient's room.

House looked even more frustrated. "What's her problem?" he asked Wilson.

Wilson sighed. Cameron was clearly angry that Wilson hadn't told House what was going on, and she had a right to be annoyed. He wasn't sure, though, how to break the news. House had already begun to follow her into the room, but Wilson grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You don't want to go in there."

"Why the hell not? Will you give me some answers?" House clearly did not like being left out of the loop.

"The patient," Wilson looked meaningfully through the blinds of the room, where Cameron was sitting on the edge of the bed and speaking calmly to the Jack, "is Cameron's brother."

House eyebrows raised in response. "The lung cancer brother? Well, I guess I should be pleased. That makes him your case and not mine."

Wilson tightened his jaw as he watched House retreat to his office. It caught him off-guard every time to consider how heartless House could be.


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: _I apologize for not updating in such a long time. I graduated from college on Sunday -- yay! So now I have plenty of time to work on this. Thanks for sticking with me! Just to keep in mind: the timeline for this is the same as House episodes up through "All In." That means House and Wilson are still living together and the drama concerning Cameron and Foreman is not part of the story (at least not yet). Assume Foreman never got sick and Cuddy's search for a sperm donor has not yet occurred either. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I'm pretty sure I'm more than halfway done.

_Disclaimer: _Don't own House, but Jack is all mine.

**Chapter 10**

"Hey there, good lookin'."

Cameron started and met her brother's smiling eyes.

"Jack! How are you feeling? You certainly had a long rest."

"I'm feeling… well, rested actually. My chest is kind of tight feeling, but not too bad."

Cameron nodded, "Dr. Wilson is personally overseeing your case. He's the oncologist I told you about. He wanted to do x-rays but didn't want to wake you. I should go let him know that you're up."

She rose to her feet but stopped when her brother took her by the arm. "Allison, don't rush off just yet. Can we talk for a few minutes first?"

Cameron smiled apologetically, "Of course."

Jack smiled back, "Good. Now you can tell me all about what it's like working here. We haven't talked much since you started. Have you been enjoying it?"

Cameron laughed softly as she considered how to answer that question. "It's certainly… interesting. Although sometimes I wish I was somewhere else, somewhere I could be making a bigger difference. The job is emotionally and physically exhausting, extremely frustrating, a lot of hard work, and not a lot of sleep. I even quit once, but was convinced to come back. The truth is that I do enjoy it. It's challenging but exhilarating. Even House, who's a major pain in the ass, can be a good boss. I have to admit that he's taught me a lot."

"So this House guy? What's so bad about him?" Jack asked.

"God forbid you actually meet him. It would be instantly apparent why he's difficult to work with."

"Is he the reason you quit?" Jack asked, sensing there was something she was leaving out of the story.

Cameron offered her brother a look of surprise. It was always a shock how well Jack could read her. She was relieved the necessity of answering him when House entered the room.

He addressed the patient directly. "Sorry to interrupt the best part of the story. I'm Dr. Gregory House. Allison, I believe Dr. Wilson is looking for you."

Cameron was so startled to hear him speak her first name, she had to ask him to repeat himself.

"I said, Dr. Wilson is looking for you." Cameron didn't move. "I think it's urgent. Don't worry I'll keep your brother company while you're gone." That was precisely what worried her.

"He's not your patient," she added fruitlessly.

Jack added, "Allison, it's ok. I'll be fine. I have a few questions for Dr. House anyway."

Cameron simply stared at Jack and then at House. Knowing she had no say in this inevitable meeting, she left the room. She looked for Wilson first in his office and found him there, but he was on the phone. She waited patiently outside until he finished, at which point he beckoned her in and waited for her to sit down.

"Sorry about that. Divorce lawyer. Anyway, how's Jack?"

Cameron stored that information for later. So he _was_ getting a divorce. "Good. He's awake now and said his chest felt tight, but otherwise he's looking good."

"I'm glad to hear it. We can go ahead and do those x-rays whenever you both are ready."

"Sounds like a plan. Was there something else you wanted to tell me?" Cameron hinted.

Wilson looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"House said you were looking for me," she said, but was just realizing that House had clearly made it up.

"I think it would be useless to say 'everybody lies,'" Wilson responded calmly, awaiting the anger brimming on the surface.

Cameron looked away and snapped, "This is getting ridiculous." With that, she stormed off. When she returned to her brother's room, House was gone.

-------------------------------------------------

Cameron sat outside Jack's room while she waited for Dr. Wilson to return with him and the x-rays. Foreman stopped by to check on her although he claimed he couldn't stay long; House had him and Chase on a new case and had told them not to bother Cameron. This was, as Foreman noted, hypocritical considering House was bothering people all the time and because Foreman had just noticed him lingering discretely at the nearby nurse's station. When House saw Foreman and Cameron look in his direction, he picked up a patient's file and pretended to examine it.

"He's acting weird," Foreman muttered.

"He's always weird," Cameron replied, rolling her eyes.

"You're telling me. But I mean _different_ weird. Why is he so interested in your brother's case? And more importantly, why is he trying to act like he's not interested?"

Cameron scoffed, "You're starting to sound like House." Cameron thought for a moment as she glanced again at House, who was still staring resolutely at the file. Foreman was right. If House was interested, he'd want to know more; if he wanted to know more, he'd be upfront and direct. He was acting different, almost sneaky.

House looked up from the file and, acting like he had only just noticed the two of them, glared at Foreman with a clear "get back to work" expression. Foreman took the hint and left Cameron after encouraging her to page him if she needed anything.

It wasn't long before Wilson arrived with the x-rays. After they made sure Jack was comfortable again in his room, they stepped outside to examine how Jack's lungs looked.

Holding the x-raysup to the light, Wilson offered, "The tumor has not grown much since Jack's last x-ray, which is good. That means it's operable. However, I'm not completely satisfied that his problems will disappear with treatment. Cancer is, as you know, tricky to deal with. I want to be sure that the respiratory distress he experienced last night was caused by the cancer. At this point, it's the only reason I can see. But let's keep an eye out for other symptoms."

Cameron looked only more worried than when Wilson had begun talking. "This is good news," Wilson reassured her. "We're going to get him better."

Cameron smiled. Poor Wilson, she thought. He didn't understand that regardless of what he said, she'd still be worried. "Thank you," was all that she could reply.

Wilson grasped herarm lightly as he continued, "I know you've been through this before, but that doesn't make you immune to grief or harm... or anything." Wilson sighed. He was troubled by the many burdens she had to bear. "I don't want to see you get hurt. It's simply too much for one person to handle, to have to deal with cancer in two loved ones. You can't do this alone."

Wilson looked like he wanted to say more, but he was rudely interrupted by the weight of a cane on his foot. "Ow! Damn it, House!"

"Oops, didn't see you there, Jimmy," House responded unsympathetically as he grabbed the x-rays from Wilson's hand.

Holding them up to the light again, House frowned as he viewed the condition of Jack's lungs. "A tumor this size doesn't explain respiratory distress," he claimed while looking at Wilson.

Wilson was already annoyed at House for his insensitivity earlier that morning and for the cane injury, but now he was getting angry. "If his condition was exacerbated by traveling, then it would explain his current problems. I think I know what I'm doing here."

"Hmm. Or maybe you're afraid his problem could be worse than cancer." House softened his look as he gazed at Cameron. What was it that she saw there? Determination? Maybe even sympathy? "If you want a second opinion, you know where to find me." With that, House hobbled back to his office.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Cameron sat quietly next to her brother has he finished his dinner. She was nervous about his surgery in the morning, but he was taking everything quite well—as he always did. Sometimes, his ability to stay calm at all times bugged Cameron, but if he were panicking, she knew her own response would only make the situation worse.

Jack put the last of his food aside and lay back on his pillow. He turned his face to Cameron as he asked, "So Allison, what's so bad about this House guy? He seemed alright to me when we chatted earlier."

Allison rolled her eyes but chuckled to herself. "He has an uncanny ability to act the part of the good guy when he wants to. But since he usually doesn't care what people think about him, his true nature usually shines through… 'glares' is more like it, actually."

"So why was he different with me? Trying to impress me or something?"

Cameron laughed. "I doubt it. He probably just wants information, and he knows better than to cause trouble. Just don't gossip about me too much, ok?"

Jack smiled, "I promise I won't. But if he starts telling me all about how he thinks you're totally gorgeous and the most intelligent woman he has ever met and so forth, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop him."

Cameron looked away and nearly blushed. When she returned her gaze to her brother, she noticed tears welling in his eyes.

"Jack, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just glad you're here to help me out. I'm happy to see that you're around people who care about you." Jack began truly crying as he said these words.

If these words had come from someone else, Cameron would have been touched. But from Jack, who was never sentimental and who Cameron had seen cry only twice—at their parents' funerals—this behavior confused and worried her.

"Jack… I appreciate what you're saying, but this isn't like you. Are you feeling different?"

Jack responded only by crying more.

"Are you in pain?"

Jack shook his head but looked at her with an expression that revealed that he was just as startled by his sudden sentimental behavior.

"I'm going to call Dr. Wilson."

"Ok."

-------------------------------------------------

Cameron swore as she shoved her cell phone into her purse while trying to make a left hand turn onto a dark street with one hand on the wheel. She had tried calling Wilson's cell phone but received no answer. She had called House's cell phone and home phone but received no answer from either, although this was hardly surprising. She really wanted to avoid bothering House. She did not want his opinion on her brother's case because once she let him get involved, she knew he'd get too involved. She didn't want him tearing through hers and her brother's past to get information that might or might not be relevant. But she was not going to let the surgery happen before she explained this new development to Wilson; if she was right, this was a new symptom.

She had only driven to House's place once before and she was having trouble remembering where it was. She circled the block she was on, thinking that it looked familiar. After driving by apartment 221B once, it caught her eye the second time. She parked her car on the street behind his bike and approached the door. She knocked loudly and hoped that he wouldn't ignore her.

She sighed with relief when she heard him shuffling toward the door. Her heart banged loudly in her ears during a long pause where he was clearly deciding whether to welcome the girl he had just seen through the peephole. Finally, he opened the door and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You're not the hooker. Unless they mixed up my order. I didn't realize you were 'on call' tonight."

"Shut up. I'm actually not here for you. I'm here for Wilson. I mean I'm looking for him. Is he here?"

House's playful demeanor turned snarky. "Nope. His wife called. He went home. Hasn't been back since. I'm assuming they're _finalizing the divorce_, if you know what I mean." House punctuated the last sentence with a very obvious wink.

"That's great," Cameron dismissed this information. She was surprised by how little she actually cared about what Wilson was doing with his wife.

"Something wrong with Jake?" House stepped aside to let her in, clearly hoping she'd fill him in on her brother's condition.

"Jack," she responded, reluctantly stepping inside.

"Whatever," House closed the door and dropped onto the couch. "I'm guessing you're not just here on a social visit."

Cameron really didn't want to get House involved, but she could either wait until she heard back from Wilson, which might not be until the morning, or she could ask House for his medical advice. She opted for the second, hoping that she wouldn't regret it later.

House noticed that Cameron was making some internal decision as she paced across his living room.

"You're clenching. Do you mind? Just sit down."

Cameron obeyed, sitting in an easy chair across from the couch. She stalled the inevitable as she remembered their meeting earlier that day. "You called me Allison today."

Now it was House's turn to clench. "There were two Camerons in the room. I didn't want your brother to think I was trying to kick _him_ out of the room."

Cameron paused as she considered this. "How do you know we're both Camerons? I could have kept my husband's name when I married."

"Not likely. You would have naturally published articles before your marriage with your maiden name. And anyone who has had anything published, especially if he or she plans to publish more, prefers to keep the same name. So I assumed that you either kept your maiden name or reclaimed it when your husband died."

Cameron nodded. "I kept it." She wasn't about to admit that she liked hearing him call her by her first name. Wilson did it from time to time, but it didn't sound nearly as intimate as when House said it.

"So… did you just come to hang out or is there something going on?"

"There's something going on." Cameron leaned back in her chair, unsure of how much to tell House and where to begin.

"Ok. I'm gonna get a beer. Want one?"

Cameron looked up at House, who had risen to go to the kitchen. The expression in his eyes that Cameron had first identified as sympathy had returned. She realized how much more it meant when she saw it in House than when she saw it repeatedly in Wilson. She responded, "Yes, please."


End file.
